{"product_id":"birthing-the-west-mothers-and-midwives-in-the-rockies-and-plains-9781496226853","title":"Birthing the West: Mothers and Midwives in the Rockies and Plains","description":"\u003cp\u003e Reading the West Longlist for Nonfiction \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Childbirth defines families, communities, and nations. In \u003ci\u003eBirthing the West\u003c\/i\u003e, Jennifer J. Hill fills the silences around historical reproduction with copious new evidence and an enticing narrative, describing a process of settlement in the American West that depended on the nurturing connections of reproductive caregivers and the authority of mothers over birth. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Economic and cultural development depended on childbirth. Hill's expanded vision suggests that the mantra of cattle drives and military campaigns leaves out essential events and falls far short of an accurate representation of American expansion. The picture that emerges in \u003ci\u003eBirthing the West\u003c\/i\u003e presents a more complete understanding of the American West: no less moving or engaging than the typical stories of extraction and exploration but concurrently intriguing and complex. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eBirthing the West \u003c\/i\u003eunearths the woman-centric practice of childbirth across Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming, a region known as a death zone for pregnant women and their infants. As public health entities struggled to establish authority over its isolated inhabitants, they collaborated with physicians, eroding the power and control of mothers and midwives. The transition from home to hospital and from midwife to doctor created a dramatic shift in the intimately personal act of birth. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJennifer J. Hill\u003c\/b\u003e is an assistant teaching professor of American studies at Montana State University. She serves as the executive director of the Women's Reproductive History Alliance, a digital museum dedicated to educating the public on reproductive history.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bison Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50705452007698,"sku":"9781496226853","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_ca540cb7-f049-45f0-b7b2-9fa4e2f3e18c.jpg?v=1734487522","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/birthing-the-west-mothers-and-midwives-in-the-rockies-and-plains-9781496226853","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}